Goodbye
by VallirenWrites
Summary: You never realize how much you love someone until you lose them. Itadei.


**Anyone still remember Itadei? No? Just me? Well, here's angst for you. Enjoy, or don't. I cried while writing this.**

 **Warning: Pretty OOC Itachi and Sasori. My first time ever writing those characters, sooooo...**

* * *

Itachi sat rigid in his chair, eyes frantically watching the clock. Deidara should have returned from the fight with Sasuke by now, shouldn't he?

* * *

His pale fingers drummed on the dark wood of the armrest, movement the only thing stopping him from breaking down.

Since he had devoted his life to Deidara, they had promised to always come back to each other. They knew it was a rather foolish promise, since you could never tell how a mission would go and if— if you would ever come back alive.

Itachi pushed the worrisome thoughts away, standing purposefully up and going to speak to Sasori. If anything, the redhead puppet should know what had happened to Deidara. They were close partners for a reason.

However, he didn't get the chance to reach the door before there was a soft knock from the other side.

The raven hastily opened the door to see— speak of the devil— Sasori standing outside, looking pensive. Wait, was he… trembling?

It was highly unusual, he mused. For there would be no reason for such an emotionless boy to be upset except for the loss of—

No. There was no way that could be true, Deidara couldn't be dead.

Perhaps he was just getting ahead of himself.

He cleared his thoughts, meeting Sasori's gaze. "Yes?"

Sasori swallowed. He still wasn't used to the sharingan, no matter how much time he may have talked to Itachi. "I don't bring good news."

He could almost see the Uchiha's understanding. He could see the way his eyes widened the smallest bit, how he clenched his hand.

"Speak."

* * *

Sasori took a deep breath. "Deidara is dead."

It was as if you could see the second Itachi's hopes shattered. Deidara was someone he had trusted, they had helped each other when they felt broken, and now he was dead? Sasori could barely believe it himself, but with Itachi and Deidara…

He saw the Uchiha trying to keep his calm, saw him blinking back tears. He felt his own hand clench, wood scraping across wood as he forced down the lump in his chest.

"Actually, he.." _Deep breath._ "He gave me something for safekeeping right before he left for his mission. He said he knew he wasn't going to come back, and he- he wanted me to give this to you as a parting gift."

He reached out his other hand, which held a small journal. No, a scrapbook.

Itachi but down hard on his lip, drawing a small amount of blood as he read the title. Tears began to well up, him having to force them down and not just fall apart in front of Sasori.

 _Everything About My Love and Life With Itachi, The Handsome Bastard._

He slowly opened to the first page. It was a photo Deidara had taken of them when they had been eating dango together. Deidara was grinning at the camera and twirling one of the sticks in his hands. Itachi had his middle finger up at the camera and had a dango in his mouth, making his cheeks puff up.

Itachi felt a cold tear trickle down his cheek as he looked at a photo Tobi had taken of him and the blond having a raucous snow fight.

He felt a hand on his shoulder, looking to see Sasori smiling sadly. "I'll leave you to look at it in peace— I'm sorry about his death.."

"It wasn't your fault."

Sasori looked surprised. "What?"

"I said it wasn't your fault. You weren't there, and he chose the mission himself. You're not to blame for it."

Itachi noticed Sasori's lip tremble. "Thank.. you.. I'll.. just…" The redhead ran off without another word.

Finally all alone, Itachi felt the heavy weight settle on his chest as he sat against the wall, not caring about how stupid it looked as he continued flipping through the photos.

He saw a piece of art him and Dei had done, a photo of them swimming, a scrap of poetry Deidara had written.

More and more tears began to fall, almost blinding his vision as he saw so many pictures of them, actually happy together.

Ones with Sasori. Kisame photobombing. Tobi in the background.

A drawing Deidara had made of the Akatsuki.

He reached the last page, stopping when he saw a simple drawing.

Two hands, his and Deidara's. Gripping tightly, and— wedding bands. He looked at the inscription below.

 _"_ To _the future I know Itachi and I will have someday."_

* * *

Pein had summoned the Akatsuki to a meeting. Sasori was walking through the halls when he heard quiet sobbing. Itachi's sobbing.

He turned the corner to see Itachi gripping the book, sitting against the wall and leaning his head over the book, shaking.

Sasori felt himself take a step forward, and another, and another until he found himself standing beside Itachi. He sat down, silently wrapping one arm around Itachi's shoulders.

Itachi tried to move his arm away, but Sasori smiled slightly. "Hey, it's okay to be weak sometimes."

Itachi raised his head. "You wouldn't understand."

Sasori's mouth curved downwards, wooden lips pursing and eyes blinking away the tears he could never cry, only wishing to blink away the stifling pressure. "I may be made of wood, but I know how it feels to lose someone you've devoted your life to."

The raven gripped the book to where his knuckles turned white. "Deidara was important to you as well, wasn't he?"

"Not the way he was to you." Sasori paused, thinking about what might be right for him to say. "He didn't make that for you to cry over. He made it so you could always remember how much he loved you."

Tears flowed from Itachi's eyes as he shut the book. "We need to get to the meeting."

Sasori stood up, offering his hand to help the Uchiha up. "Itachi, I have a lot of respect for you. You're strong, and I know you can get through this. Deidara's still with you."

Itachi pushed his hand away. "Th—." His voice died out.

Sasori smiled slightly. "Just keep moving forward."

Itachi stood up after him, but as he turned to go, he felt Deidara's hand around his for just a brief minute.

He turned back, and he saw Deidara smile at him. "I'm always with you, un."

Itachi smiled, just a little bit. "I know, my love."

* * *

 _I'll never forget you. Goodbye, my love._

* * *

 **I know, I know, in the canon, Sasori died before Deidara. But I don't care, this is what AU's or your own plot twists are for.**

 **Listening** **to Angel Wi** **th A Shotgun while writing this was not a good idea. I really wanna cry now, guys!**

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 **-XxVallirenxX**


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